![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Andrena-regularis-bee-nesting-near-the-east-lawn-cemetery-entrance-credit-Bryan-Danforth-e1780035138.jpeg\")
Andrena regularis bee nesting near the east lawn cemetery entrance \u2013 credit, Bryan Danforth<\/p>\n Andrena regularis bee nesting near the east lawn cemetery entrance \u2013 credit, Bryan Danforth<\/p>\n
At roughly 5.5 million, a colony of ground-nesting bees that scientists discovered under a New York cemetery may be one of the largest bee aggregations ever documented.<\/p>\n
Subsequent research showed that the bees have likely lived there for more than 100 years, thriving in the cemetery\u2019s undisturbed sandy soil\u2014an incredible discovery.<\/p>\n
Rachel Fordyce used to save money by parking at Ithaca\u2019s East Hill Plaza and walking through East Lawn Cemetery on her way to work at a Cornell University entomology lab. During one walk in the spring of 2022, she noticed something unusual. Bees were everywhere.<\/p>\n
She collected some in a jar and brought them to her supervisor, Bryan Danforth, professor of entomology in Cornell\u2019s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese are all over the cemetery,\u201d she told him. The insects were identified as Andrena regularis, commonly called the \u201cregular mining bee,\u201d a solitary wild bee species that nests underground and helps pollinate crops and wild plants.<\/p>\n
That simple observation led to the extraordinary discovery: a 100-year-old colony of 5.5 million solitary bees across 1.5 acres. According to the researchers, that is comparable to more than 200 honeybee hives, and exceeds Manhattan\u2019s human population by more than threefold.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m sure there are other large bee aggregations that exist around the world that we just haven\u2019t identified, but in terms of what is in the literature, this is one of the largest,\u201d said Steve Hoge, lead author of the resulting study<\/a> on the colony published April 13th in the journal Apidologie.<\/p>\n To estimate the bee population and study emergence patterns, researchers used a new monitoring method involving emergence traps. These small mesh tents cover less than a square meter of ground and funnel emerging insects into glass jars.<\/p>\n \u201cYou capture a whole community of animals coming out of the ground with this approach,\u201d Danforth said.<\/p>\n Between March 30th and May 16th, 2023, the research team placed 10 traps throughout the cemetery. They collected 3,251 insects representing 16 species of bees, beetles, and flies. A. regularis overwhelmingly dominated the samples.<\/p>\n Researchers used the number of bees captured in each trap to calculate average bee density across the cemetery\u2019s total land area. Based on those calculations, the estimated total population ranged from about 3 million to 8 million bees.<\/p>\n The study also explored the biology of these poorly understood wild bees while also highlighting their importance as pollinators for valuable agricultural crops such as apples, one of New York\u2019s signature commodities.<\/p>\n \u201cThe research elevates the value of solitary ground-nesting bees and shows just how abundant these bees are, how important they are as crop pollinators, and that we need to be aware of these nest sites and preserve them,\u201d Danforth said.<\/p>\n Historical records showed that A. regularis has been present at East Lawn Cemetery since at least the early 1900s. The cemetery itself dates back to 1878.<\/p>\n Scientists say the discovery strengthens the idea that cemeteries can act as important refuges for biodiversity. Older cemeteries, especially in cities, are already known to shelter uncommon plants, insects, birds, and mammals.<\/p>\n